Functional profiling of a cancer patient’s tumor cells holds potential to tailor personalized cancer treatment. Here we report the utility of Fresh Uncultured Tumor-derived EpCAM+ epithelial Cells (FUTC) for ex vivo drug response interrogation. Analysis of murine Kras mutant FUTCs demonstrated pharmacological and adaptive signaling profiles comparable to subtype-matched cultured cells. Applying FUTC profiling on non-small cell lung cancer patient samples, we generated robust drug response data in 18 of 19 cases, where the cells exhibited targeted drug sensitivities corresponding to their oncogenic drivers. In one of these cases, an EGFR mutant lung adenocarcinoma patient refractory to osimertinib, FUTC profiling was used to guide compassionate treatment. FUTC profiling identified selective sensitivity to disulfiram and the combination of carboplatin plus etoposide and the patient received substantial clinical benefit from the treatment with these agents. We conclude that FUTC profiling..... READ ARTICLE
BioRxiv DOI:10.1101/2020.08.12.247817
Authors: Sarang S. Talwelkar, Mikko I. Mäyränpää, Lars Søraas, Swapnil Potdar, Jie Bao, Annabrita Hemmes, Nora Linnavirta, Jon Lømo, Jari Räsänen, Aija Knuuttila, Krister Wennerberg, Emmy W. Verschuren
